[Hard Torque]: The Pleasures of Motorcycling

[L.P.]

[Archived Thread]

The Pleasures of Motorcycling

[Aryan]

Archived Hard Torque Approved.

[animeher]

The original article by Mr. Sachin Rao, which has been an all time inspirational post for me:

________________________________________________

The pleasure principle

25 Sep '02 - Sachin Rao

It was hardly 60 km from Delhi on the NH8 when I pulled into a highway eatery for a break. I’d been holding consistent three-digit speeds for a blissfully long stretch on the Pulsar and a nice cold bottle of water was in order. I dismounted, dumped all my gear on the bike and drank deep. A man of about fifty-five or sixty paying his bill who was watching, looked at my numberplate and stepped towards me.

“Where are you coming from?”

“Been on a Rajasthan tour.”

“Oh? How many kilometres?”

“1,650 so far.”

“By motorcycle? Alone??”

No, I wanted to say, this bike, luggage and all that gear, it’s just a prop, my gang of loud friends with a boombox and party hats are just behind with the trailer van. What does it look like?

“Yeah,” I said instead.

“Then what is the pleasure?” he asked quizzically.

I only smiled as he walked to his Esteem VX, got in and slowly drove off.

I’ll tell you exactly what the pleasure is, Mr Esteem-Driving Gentleman.

The pleasure is when you finish your day’s ride, and reach in one piece. You’re the smallest vehicle on the road, and you’ve survived.

The pleasure is when you take off your wristwatch, and see a band of untanned skin.

The pleasure is when your motorcycle and you move as one single united form. Whatever shape the road takes, whichever end of the compass it leads to.

The pleasure is when you use your hands, arms, thighs, knees and feet to steer.

The pleasure is when you take off your riding jacket for a break, and feel the breeze dry your sweat.

The pleasure is when you sing to yourself on an empty road. You’re the world’s best rock star.

The pleasure is when your rear wheel slides, and you bring it back, when the front wheel lifts, and you take your time bringing it back.

The pleasure is when you cut through air, at 50 kph or 100.

The pleasure is when you reach a place you’ve never been before, and someone you’ve never seen before asks you for a ride. And comes back grinning.

The pleasure is when you wave to village kids, and they wave back.

The pleasure is when you almost, almost fall. But don’t.

The pleasure is when you fight the wind, and win.

The pleasure is when you get up that narrow path for the view you’ll never forget.

The pleasure is when you view the world at an angle.

The pleasure is when you eat bugs at 90 kph.

The pleasure is when you look at a dust-streaked face in the mirror after a 500 km ride, and don’t want to wash up.

The pleasure is when your pillion moves with you.

The pleasure is when you can see the petrol after a top-up.

The pleasure is when your throttle hand has calluses.

The pleasure is when you jump a speedbreaker.

The pleasure is when you stop to help push a stranded car to the side of the road.

The pleasure is when you stop at the smallest of towns, and somebody asks you technical specifications.

The pleasure is when your book of roadmaps gets dog-eared, rain-splashed, tea-stained.

The pleasure is when you give a stranger a lift.

The pleasure is when you have battle-scars.

The pleasure is when you can feel the cool morning and the hot afternoon, the light rain and the damp fog.

The pleasure is when you leave four-wheeler traffic standing in a jam.

The pleasure is when you aren’t lulled by an air-conditioner.

The pleasure is when you are free. Open. Independent. Liberated.

The pleasure is when you are a biker. But you’ll never know how that feels, will you, Mr Esteem-Driving Gentleman?

[niks_devil666]

simply awesome!

[pads]

Wonderful ........
also few points......

The pleasure is when you drive in fog, seeing only few meters ahead and reaching safely.
The pleasure is when driving in heavy rain. Bed ridden for two days and remembering the journey & enjoying the moments & also 2 days rest.

[Old Fox]

Thanks LP

and many thanks @ani for posting that link to the original one..I had lost it. Sachin did write very well....find and post his experience of riding to Leh on the P180 Classic. I was wonderfully put up.

[L.P.]

Wonderful ........
also few points......

The pleasure is when you drive in fog, seeing only few meters ahead and reaching safely.
The pleasure is when driving in heavy rain. Bed ridden for two days and remembering the journey & enjoying the moments & also 2 days rest.

These two were realy breath taking..


Its a pleasure Sir.OF .. i had kept these stored in a pendrive!
was not so well these days so cud not get time with the JOB and All..will surely dig out some more if I fins any!

[dcs]

as I went through each PLEASURE....the feeling that I had...was un explainable.....a lot of us can understand it though!
I would not spoil the thread by adding anything to the already Said PLEASURES...and it was as if I am reading what I have been feeling all these years of Riding.... Simply Awesome...superb.

I dont know who to thank ofr...To L.P who had this wonderful piece of work stored with him or to the wonderful brain who penned it....

Love you mates, you really made my day...I had otherwise a very depressing, gloomy day.! Hope you can understand where it is coming from.

Cheers!

[VIVIAN C]

Felt Absolute Elation in reading every word.

Splendid article.Truly inspirational to the CORE.

[silver_falcon_46]

Brilliant article.

My favourites:

The pleasure is starting your bike's engine for a long-distance ride on a cold morning and listening to its steady comforting idle while you prepare for the ride.

The pleasure is in cleaning the visor at a tea stop and seeing the world clearer through it as it had never been before.

The pleasure is when the group gets together weeks after a long ride and talks about it like it happened just yesterday.

The pleasure is when you take off your riding jacket for a break, and feel the breeze dry your sweat.

[psycho28]

awesome article and very true, i have felt most of them

i found this article so interesting that i have printed and glued it in my office cubicle

[TomSawyer]

Thanks Sachin, & L.P. Struck a chord, touched my heart, made my eyes moist. Motorcycling is catharsis. We motorcyclists are sissies at times .

The pleasure is in watching a row of several single headlights trailing in your mirrors, the group on the move.
The pleasure is in watching a bunch of gleaming bikes knifing together through fast highway traffic.

^+1..... our G2G Rides

The pleasure is in knowing a split second before the car in front panic-brakes. You were more focussed than the driver of that car. You survive and smile!!

^+1..... & pat the tank.

The pleasure is in tooting a salute to truckers who safely wave you past on a blind mountain curve.

^+1..... Long distance truckers are more disciplined than the local veggie & milk runners.

The pleasure is in glancing up at the cloud-darkened sky for a moment and guessing correctly how far ahead the rain will catch up with you.

^+1..... The Hogennakal G2G.

The pleasure is in knowing that your wife loves riding as much as you do, even as a pillion!!!
The pleasure is in the easy companionship of a riding group.

^+1..... with motorcyclists who were strangers a day ago.

The pleasure is in smelling spilled diesel on the road before your tyre hits it.

^+1.....

The pleasure is when you finish your day’s ride, and reach in one piece. You’re the smallest vehicle on the road, and you’ve survived.

^+1.....

The pleasure is when you sing to yourself on an empty road. You’re the world’s best rock star.

^+1..... Turbo Lover, Born to be wild, Ride to live, Jeena isi ka naam hai ... Best summed up by "I took a heavenly ride through our silence..." Pink Floyd- Coming back to life.

The pleasure is when your rear wheel slides, and you bring it back, when the front wheel lifts, and you take your time bringing it back.

^+1..... at 10.00 pm , leaning over and then the front wheel catching a oil slick, ..& pat the tank, again.

The pleasure is when you fight the wind, and win.

^+1..... & when you chase the rain clouds & win. ... You lose & you still smile in the rain.

The pleasure is when you take off your wristwatch, and see a band of untanned skin.

^+1..... when your wristwatch is HMT Janata, and your steed is Jawa, & you are riding to Mysore, the home of Jawa.
Adding few of mine:

The pleasure is when you stop from triple digit speeds, remove that heavy block of stone & other debri, left by a trucker after a breakdown.
The pleasure is when you spot that tiny loose bolt on the surface, swerve, & smile.
The pleasure is when you do Sunday grocery runs in full riding gear .
The pleasure is when you are the only soul on the road in a torrential downpour, when even the cagers have taken cover. You continue to ride 'cos you have to reach a destination. And then, you stop on a long bridge to experience nature's fury.
The pleasure is when you realise that the contact patch of your throne with the Earth is lesser than the surface area of the sole of a pair of shoes.

Got this printed, and glued to the inside of my front door. Makes my day, before I step out.
Long live motoryclists, long live motorcycling. May our tribe increase.

[tibby]

Phenomenal stuff! Couldn't have agreed more with the pleasures mentioned by the original author!
I wasn't on the old xBhp..

@L.P.: Thanks a ton for the re-post..

[thaker1985]

Pleasure is when you ride for 10 hours straight, and u cant feel your butt when finally stopping

[Jithu]

Awsome dude ... really nice